In the wake of the Maple Leafs’ epic Collapse on Causeway Street back in May, Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli sought out his Toronto counterpart Dave Nonis.

“I said, ‘Dave, this will make you stronger. You’ve got some young players that came into their own, and this will make you stronger,’ ” Chiarelli told reporters.

You know the reason. Chiarelli’s team had itself overcome a massive setback in 2010, giving up a 3-0 series lead and a 3-0 first-period lead in Game 4 to the Flyers before blowing the advantage and being eliminated from that post-season. He told Nonis that Boston’s long slide into the abyss “made us stronger. It made us deal with this stuff better.”

The next year, of course, the Bruins won a Stanley Cup.

So fast forward to Wednesday night in Pittsburgh, where the Leafs authored the Collapse at the Consol Energy Center.

Okay, maybe the capital letters are over-dramatic given that this was regular-season Game 25 and not a playoff Game 7. The Leafs even earned a point in the standings for their 6-5 defeat in a shootout. Still, there were at least a few key similarities between their latest playoff failure and their most recent demise. The Leafs, to wit, led by the score of 4-1 in both games, and proceeded to tear apart their game plan.

The coach said similar things in the wake of their playoff elimination.

Even before Wednesday’s events in Pittsburgh, Leafs players had spent part of this week attempting to decipher precisely why they’ve generally played poorly while holding a lead this season. The Leafs blew a two-goal lead in a loss to the Hurricanes on Oct. 17, and there’ve been plenty of other instances in which they’ve squandered advantages. More than one player acknowledged the Leafs generally have been a more effective team when trailing.

“It’s all mental,” said defenceman Carl Gunnarsson. “When you’re down a goal, two goals, three goals, you’ve just got to take more chances. You play more desperate. When you’re up a goal or two, the other team is chasing you. You don’t want to make any mistakes and give them any freebies. It’s just a matter of being too cautious.”

Indeed, the Leafs failed to register a shot in the entire third period and overtime on Wednesday, which tied a dubious franchise record. It was just the second shot-less period by the Maple Leafs since the NHL began tracking such data in the late 1950s, this according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The other came in April of 2000, when the Mats Sunin-led Leafs sputtered in a road game in Buffalo. Those Leafs, to be fair, had clinched a playoff berth and ultimately made a run to the second round of the post-season.

What’s the problem with these Leafs?

Could it be that they see themselves ahead by a goal or two or three and the memories of their meltdown in Beantown come rushing back? Sports psychologists will tell you that fixating on past failures can be murder on future performance.

“I guess it could be that . . . I don’t believe it is,” said Toronto GM Dave Nonis. “I don’t doubt that they’re maybe a little tentative right now, (but) I think too much can be made of the one game. When you’re playing confident and things are going well, you’re not second-guessing yourself or thinking about every little thing you’re doing. When you’re not confident and things don’t come naturally, everything is second-guessed.”

Still, if the ghosts of Game 7 aren’t to blame for performances like Wednesday night’s, there’s scant evidence of Chiarelli’s theory that the setback has made the Leafs better, at least lately. The Leafs have just two regulation wins in their past 11 games. Their penalty kill is regressing. Their once-near-impenetrable goaltenders have combined for an .892 save percentage the past four games. Their breakout at times appears broken.

Carlyle, who told reporters in Buffalo on Thursday that he gets “stress headaches” at moments such as these, spoke the words of a man on the edge of exasperation.

“We talked during the timeouts, we talked in between periods, ‘Continue to apply pressure, appropriate pressure when the situation presents itself and be more aggressive versus sitting back,’ ” the coach said, thinking back to Wednesday.

“And we did the opposite.”

On Wednesday night, questionable officiating was a factor. Injuries have been one for most of the season, too. Thursday saw Joffrey Lupul placed on the injured reserve list with a groin strain expected to keep him out a couple of weeks or more, so heap on the doom and gloom if you will. Nonis glimpses Toronto’s 30 points in 25 games — not to mention Wednesday’s first two periods, in which Carlyle’s numbers had them out-chancing the Penguins 11-9 — and sees the bright side.

“I’m happy with our point total, and the positive thing is we’ve got to that point total by playing okay, not playing great,” Nonis said. “I think from my standpoint you have to look at it as an opportunity.”

Still, Nonis said trade talks among league executives have been picking up of late. If the mental anguish of Game 7 hasn’t yet made his club stronger, is it possible a transaction could?

“Transactions are always in your mind, but they have to be ones that make sense long-term,” Nonis said. “Or, if it’s short-term, they can’t be expensive propositions. From my standpoint, it’s about looking for ways to improve your team, and if that’s through acquisitions, I’m willing to do that.

“But I also think that gives people an excuse as well. We have a good enough group to be very competitive and it’s up to the group to perform. I would much rather have that happen than to look for changes.”

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